Destiel  Goodbye
by nipfreck
Summary: In which Castiel is reassigned.


"I've been reassigned."

Dean sat up in a sleepy confusion, Cas' voice flat and low. He rubbed the sleep from his green eyes, crinkling at the edges as he squinted in the soft moonlight. Cas was standing near the window, looking out at the quiet forests near Bobby's house.

"Wait, what? Cas, what are you talking about…?"

Castiel looked at Dean over his shoulder, expression to the naked eye impassive, but Dean's heart leapt into his throat. Cas' eyes were heartbreaking, eyebrows tilted in his own confusion and sadness, blue eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Cas, what's wrong—"

"I've been _reassigned._" Cas said again, emphasizing the last word painfully. His voice was heavy, and Dean was starting to get scared.

"What the Hell does that mean?"

Cas turned and walked towards the bed, sitting on the edge down by Dean's feet, He fisted the material of his dress slacks, material crumpling up in his palms as he looked down at the ground. Dean was scared now – something was wrong, _very _wrong if it was putting Cas in such a state of distress. He reached out and gripped the angel's shoulder, mimicking the way the angel had marked Dean's own shoulder.

"It means I have failed. I received my first warning already, that I was getting to close to those in my charge. I thought it was under control, that if I just kept it to myself, my Father would leave me be." Castiel looked up, expression tortured.

"He didn't."

Dean moved closer to the angel, shifting to sit next to him, thigh pressed against Cas' own as Dean tried to put the pieces together.

"S-so what happens now?"

"I receive a new charge. I no longer can help you or your brother with your quest anymore." Dean's heart sank – Castiel was a damn good person to have on their side, but he was more than that. He was their friend. In the past year, he and the angel had grown close, developed a profound bond. And although Dean might have rolled his eyes at the saying at first, he took pride in that. He held it close to his heart, knowing that even if Cas wasn't there, the two men were still connected.

"…It's gonna be okay Cas. So you can't be with us all the time anymore. We can kick ass the way we always did—"

"_You don't understand._" Cas cut him off, words desperate, clearly trying to make Dean see something. Dean was confused, his confusion and Cas' distress making his heart thud against his ribs in worry.

"Then _what is it Cas? _What's _wrong?_"

"When an angel is reassigned, th-" Cas had to take a moment to compose himself, voice heavy and choked sounding. The angel was fighting the urge to cry, shoulders trembling slightly under that damn trench coat Dean knew so well.

"…They are required to erase their previous charge's memories. To delete any traces of that angelic presence in his or her life." Cas looked up, blue eyes swimming, red around the edges as his words sunk in.

"…No." Dean's voice was low, shaking his head, denial already coiling up defensively in him. "No, Cas, there's gotta be someone we can talk to—"

"I've already wiped Bobby and Sam's minds. I came to you last because I- I needed to say goodbye." Cas was crying now, tears streaming down his face silently, wetting his lips. Dean couldn't breathe, his lungs felt as if they were being crushed, shoulders aching with an invisible weight. The weight of reality.

Cas was being taken away from him. Not just physically, but everything. All the quiet visits, all the messages through Dean's dreams, the laughs shared in the Impala as the radio played quietly, the first kiss in the pouring rain and the many others that followed, the gentle voice soothing Dean as he tossed in his sleep—

"Cas, _please, __**there has to be a way**_, I _can't _lose you, not after everything we've been through—"

"I'm so sorry Dean. I'm already running out of time." Cas' blinked and looked towards the window, the faintest flicker of a dawning light breaking over the pine trees. The corners of the angel's lips were trembling when he looked back to Dean. Dean was shaking in fear, trying to fight the tears swimming in his eyes. Not because he didn't want to cry, but because this might be the last time he saw his angel.

"Dean, I—"

Dean cut him off right there, closing the remaining few inches between them and kissing the angel hard, their lips crashing together. He fisted Cas' hair desperately, thick locks running through his fingers as he mapped the lips he knew so well with his own. Cas responded just as frantically, gripping the nape of Dean's neck and letting his hand slot over the scar on the hunter's arm, the mark he gave when he saved Dean. Dean could taste the salty wetness of tears on Cas' lips, and that only made Dean kiss him harder, both their hearts pounding as they tried to make this solitary moment last forever. To simply give into the sensations of each other, touching, feeling, tasting, marking each other with teeth and hands.

But then Cas pulled back. Dean shook his head, breathing hard as his bottom lip trembled.

"No, please Cas, not yet."

Cas smiled sadly, pressing his lips to Dean's one more time, the touch gentle and soft before he stood up again.

"I will miss you Dean. More than you can comprehend." The voice was soft and gravely, the sadness and finality of his tone hand in hand.

"Cas, I love you, please—" Dean sighed low, looking up at the angel for the last time, knowing that fighting was worthless and simply using up his time with the angel. "I'll miss you, Cas."

And Cas smiled and reached his hand out, pressing two fingers gently to Dean's forehead.

"No, you won't."


End file.
